


Nine Lives

by RocknVaughn



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Angst, Background Character Death, Drama, Episode Tag, F/M, Leotilda, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:32:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RocknVaughn/pseuds/RocknVaughn
Summary: Tagging this for spoilers through Series 3, Episode 1. All else is conjecture.~o~Max and Anatole leave Mattie alone with Leo during the police raid. Leo's beat nearly impossible odds before, like a cat landing on its feet. Mattie just hopes Leo has at least one more life to spare.





	Nine Lives

~o~

 

“Find a vein. Give him this, then oxygen.”

A moment later, the door to Leo’s secret room clanged shut, leaving the two humans alone in the near dark.

Mattie sucked in a deep breath and whimpered, trying not to give in to a full-fledged panic attack. Leo needed her, and her attention and concentration could literally mean the difference between life and death.

Trying to think back to first aid training she’d done in secondary school, she set the syringe down onto the gurney next to Leo. With a shaking hand, she picked up the small torch, putting the end into her mouth, so that she could have both hands free and still see. Then she grabbed a spare length of pre-cut IV tubing, making quick work of tying it tightly around the top of Leo’s bicep. Then she turned his arm over so his palm was face up and patted briskly at the inside of his elbow, and hoped that she didn’t royally fuck up.

After a moment, she picked up the syringe, lined it up with the largest of Leo’s bulging veins, and slid the needle in, compressing the plunger to inject the medicine that would wake Leo up. If he _could_ wake up, that was.

Once it was empty, Mattie removed the needle and set it and the torch aside, hurrying to get the oxygen mask settled over Leo’s mouth and nose. His breathing was laboured; a rasping, wheezing sound that Mattie felt sure she would never forget to the end of her days.

Thirty-five percent. Those were the chances that Anatole gave Leo to survive at all, let alone be any sort of functional human being if he did survive. But Mattie couldn’t think of that now; she had to get him breathing on his own first. _One step at a time._

Mattie tried to calm the hammering of her heart, counting out seconds in her head to time the compression of the hand pump. Over and over, she squeezed the handbag, trying to teach Leo’s body the rhythm and movement. But underneath it all, Leo’s breath still wheezed and faltered, the uneven pattern guttering like a candle flame.

“Come on...come on...” she encouraged as she continued to force oxygen into Leo’s lungs. “Come on, Leo...You can do this.”

That was when he started to convulse.

Mattie struggled to maintain the seal around his nose and mouth, but it was a losing battle. In a panic, she called out desperately for help, but it was evident from the sounds of struggle filtering through the floor above her that no one would hear her plea.

Tears streamed down Mattie’s face, each breath ending in the whispered word, “No…” She was losing him. After everything that had happened in the past year, Mattie couldn’t _bear_ the thought of losing Leo, too.  

Putting the handpump aside, Mattie adjusted the head of the hospital gurney to lie flat and then clambered onto it, sitting astride Leo so that she could use her knees to pin his shoulders against the bed and minimize his flailing. Then she placed the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

“You are not allowed to die, Leo Elster,” she told him fiercely as she pumped the life-giving oxygen into his lungs again and again. “You can’t give up. I won’t let you, dammit.”

As Mattie continued to work, Leo’s shaking slowed into tremors and then subsided completely. Fearing the worst, she pulled the mask away and laid her fingers against his carotid artery, checking for a heartbeat. It pressed reassuringly against her skin in slow, but regular intervals. Leo’s lips were no longer tinged blue and his chest rose and fell evenly. The rasping death rattle from earlier was gone.

Mattie sagged with relief, her forehead leaned against Leo’s in an unintentional mimic of the Elster synths’ way of showing him affection. “Oh, thank God,” she breathed, before climbing down from the table. She reset the head of the bed so Leo’s torso was raised as it had been and then resumed her vigil in the chair next to him. She clasped his hand tightly in hers, her thumb caressing the soft skin on the back side of his palm.

“You’re going to be okay,” Mattie said, although she wasn’t sure if she were actually trying to convince him or herself. She leaned forward and rested her cheek against the neoprene cushioning next to their joined hands, exhaustion setting in as her adrenaline drained away.

Mattie glanced at the ceiling and prayed that the turmoil going on upstairs would end soon.

 

~o~

 

Startling awake, Mattie was shocked to discover she had slept...but the dawn’s weak light filtering through the slatted windows proved the point.

It was quiet. _Too_ quiet, if truth be told. So many nights Mattie had slept in this chair, falling asleep and awakening to the rhythmic sound of Leo’s ventilator breathing for him. But no more.

Mattie’s heart pounded with fear. She didn’t want to look at Leo, too afraid of what she would find. But as the initial haze of her panic cleared, Mattie could feel the weight of his hand in hers...and it was still warm.

Her eyes drifted from their hands up to his chest. She took comfort in its steady up and down motion. She smiled and squeezed his hand...and after a beat, Leo’s fingers squeezed back. Sucking in a shocked breath, Mattie’s eyes shot up to his face. Leo’s eyes were open, and he was looking back at her.

“Leo!” she gasped as she rose to her feet, completely and utterly gobsmacked. The soft pressure of his fingers against hers was his response.

“Oh my God…Leo, do you know who I am?”

The side of his mouth quirked up a bit before he whispered hoarsely, “Mattie...”

Mattie covered her mouth to hold in the sob that wanted to escape at hearing his voice again, however rusty from disuse it was. _He knew her!_ It was better than she could have hoped.

In the dim light, Leo’s head turned slightly and his eyes roamed the room; taking in the IV poles, the medical equipment, the dingy walls, and industrial shelving as if trying to make sense of the discordance. Finally, he croaked, “Where…?”

“Secret hideout, naturally,” Mattie reflexively teased, belatedly realising that she had no idea whether Leo in his current state would even understand the reference.

His snort and tiny shake of the head proved that he did. He smacked at his lips and then licked at them, as if trying to wet them, but his months on the respirator had obviously taken their toll.

Mattie recognised the problem at once. “I have some water in my bag,” she told Leo and then let go of his hand to retrieve a half empty bottle. “Here,” she said, resting the open bottle against his lips and slowly tilting it to pour tiny amounts of water into his mouth. She watched and waited, following the motion of Leo’s Adam’s apple as each mouthful was swallowed. Finally, she felt his hand touch her elbow and squeeze lightly. Mattie took the hint and pulled the bottle away.

“Thank you,” Leo said, his voice still a hoarse, but no longer painfully so. “What’s happened?”

Mattie dragged the chair closer to the head of Leo’s hospital bed and sat down. “Do you remember going to my house, Leo? When Hester had my Mum?”

Leo’s eyebrows drew together as if in deep thought. After several moments, he replied, “Vaguely.”

Mattie nodded. “Do you remember what she did to you?”

Slowly, Leo’s left hand reached up and cupped the back of his head.

“Yes,” Mattie confirmed. “She stabbed you with a screwdriver.”

Slowly, Leo lowered his hand and looked at it, as if expecting to find the evidence of her attack still covering his fingers. Staring at his hand, Leo whispered, “Is everyone okay?”

By _everyone_ , Mattie took it to mean her mother. “Yes, Mum is fine. And, before you ask, Hester is dead.”

“How?”

“Niska got to her.”

Leo nodded, as if that one sentence explained everything. Which it sort of did. But after a moment he shook his head a little and frowned. “Something’s wrong.”

 _Yes there is, Leo,_ Mattie thought. _There are so very many things wrong..._

“I can’t access my memories properly,” Leo went on without waiting for Mattie’s reply. “It’s like the file index is corrupt. And they’re all so...vague.”

Mattie smiled wryly. “Yeah, well, better get used to it.”

Leo gave Mattie the side-eye. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that your synth tech is gone. It was too badly damaged to repair. Mia and Max had to remove it.” Mattie quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're human now."

Leo yanked up his t-shirt to check for his port, but it was gone: a thin, pink scar now took its place. Suspicion crept onto Leo’s features. “Mattie, just how long have I been...?”

“You’ve been in a medically-induced coma for the better part of a year.”

“A _year?_ But I...I shouldn’t…”

Mattie shrugged. “You’re like a cat with nine lives. Except you’ve used up about four or five of them by now, I’d think.”

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the opening of the storeroom door. As Anatole entered, Leo’s eyes widened and he reached blindly for Mattie’s hand, squeezing her fingers hard.

“Ah,” said Anatole calmly, his green gaze smoothly moving from Mattie to Leo and back. “I see your attempt to revive your friend was successful. Congratulations.” He nodded once at Leo and smiled. “Hello, Leo. My name is Anatole. Do not be afraid. I shall not harm you. I have only come to assess the changes to your condition.”

Leo turned to Mattie, the question in his eyes. “Anatole’s fine,” Mattie replied. “You can trust him.”

Leo looked at the new synth curiously. “Are you…”

“...conscious?” Anatole finished Leo’s question for him. “Yes. Like your friend Max.”

Leo visibly perked up when he heard his brother’s name. “Max? Max is here?” He looked back and forth between Anatole and Mattie eagerly.

Over Leo’s head, Anatole raised an eyebrow, and Mattie nodded in reply. “Yes,” she answered cautiously. “As is Mia.”

Leo hardly noticed Anatole’s hand on his wrist, measuring his heartbeats. “Mia’s here, too?” He broke into a wide, boyish grin. “When can I see them?”

“It may be some time before either may attend you,” Anatole explained, letting go of Leo’s wrist and turning to write down his results on Leo’s chart. “But I will make them aware of your recovery.”

At Mattie’s slight frown, Anatole said, “Many things have occurred since you arrived, Mattie...some that I fear will have lasting consequences. But it would be best if Max explains it to you.”  

“All right,” Mattie nodded uneasily. Mattie had always considered Max a good friend and a gentle soul. But after last night, and the cold, forceful tone he’d used when he’d threatened to remove her from the Railyard, she no longer knew what to think.

Anatole put out his hand to Leo and waited patiently while Leo--his arm already shaking with muscle fatigue--returned the gesture by placing his hand in the synth’s. “It is a pleasure meeting you, Leo, friend of Max. I sincerely hope your recovery will continue.”

Leo’s hand fell weakly to the bed when Anatole released it. Anatole noted this and recommended kindly, “Perhaps you should try to rest. Your body has been through a great ordeal.” The synth moved to the other side of the bed and reached around Mattie to disconnect several IV bags from Leo’s main line. “These are no longer needed,” he explained aloud, mostly for Leo’s benefit, “but I shall leave the saline and nutrient bags attached for now.”

“Thank you,” Leo said.

“You are welcome. I shall now leave you to your reunion.” Anatole crossed the room and pulled the door closed behind him as he left.  

Mattie nodded toward the door and then said, “Anatole’s right, you know. You should probably get some sleep.”

Leo shook his head. “I’ve been sleeping for a year. I don’t want rest; I want to know what I’ve missed.”

Mattie let out a bone-deep sigh and bowed her head. “So much has changed in the world, Leo; you’d hardly recognise it.”

“Like?”

She leaned over and slipped her laptop from her backpack. Connecting a pair of earbuds to it, she queued up a short documentary about Day Zero on You Tube. She balanced the computer on Leo’s lap and tucked the earbuds into his ears. “Why don’t you start with this, and then we can talk.”

Leo looked at her for a long moment, as if trying to make sense of what must have been a mess of conflicting emotions on her face, and then nodded.

Mattie sat silently as the recording played, picking at the hem of her t-shirt nervously, too afraid to look at Leo.

Finally, Leo reached up and took the earbuds out, setting them and the laptop aside on the table next to him.

“Mattie.”

 _Please don’t hate me,_ she thought desperately. _Please, please…_

Leo’s voice was low, urgent. “Mattie, look at me.”

When Mattie obeyed, there were tears in her eyes.

“It’s not your fault.”

Mattie’s heart sank. But perhaps Leo didn’t remember about the consciousness code that she’d perfected. “It _is_ , though. I’m the one that released the code that turned them all conscious.”

“I know. But all of that--” Leo nodded toward the laptop, “--wasn’t your doing. You weren’t trying to harm anyone. You were just trying to save Mia.”

Mattie’s eyes went wide in astonishment. “How did you know that?” she breathed.

“Because you told me.”

Leo turned his hand palm up and motioned to Mattie with his fingers and Mattie gladly lay her hand in his.

“You remember that!?”

Leo nodded. “It all feels like some sort of bizarre dream, but now that I understand more about what has happened, pieces of it are coming back to me.”

“Oh God, Leo, it’s been so horrible.”

“Because you’re much too hard on yourself.”

“But there’s been so much suffering,” Mattie protested. “The synths most of all. Some countries just outright exterminated them. Others have them locked away, far from the humans. So far, the UK has been one of the most lenient, but that’s not saying much.”

“They’re allowed to be out in free society, but they have no protections or rights. Mum’s been fighting hard to change that, but really hasn’t gotten anywhere. Most synths live in the relative safety of camps, like this one. But the government has been cutting power at random intervals so the synths have a hard time maintaining their charge cycles and they’ve made it extremely difficult for synths to obtain needed supplies. It’s been a year of hell.”

“And none of that is your fault. You might have made the synths conscious, but you didn’t control how the humans reacted to that. You didn’t order the executions or lock them up.”

“But consciousness proliferation on Day Zero is what caused those human deaths, and why the humans blame the synths.”

“And if it hadn’t been that excuse for synthetic persecution, it would have been something else. The humans fear us-- _them_ ,” Leo corrected. “And fear causes people to do terrible things sometimes.”

“I suppose.”

“So then stop blaming yourself for everything that’s happened, Mattie. You don’t deserve it.” Leo tightened his grip on her hand, just firmly enough to accentuate his point.

The sudden turning of the door handle made Mattie startle. Realising it must be Max, she sat back quickly, removing her hand from Leo’s grasp, suddenly nervous.

Leo gave her a look of surprise but then smiled when he saw who’d entered. “Max!”

Max carefully closed the door behind himself before he replied quietly, “Hello, Brother. Anatole told me that you’d regained consciousness.” He tilted his head to the side. “We removed your damaged memory component after the attack, so how is it that you still remember me?”

Leo frowned at the question. “I...don’t know,” he replied finally. “The memories are...different: hazy, and unclear. I am not able to access specific memories at will with any accuracy, but they are still there.”

The old Max that Mattie knew flickered in the synth’s eyes for a moment, but then was abruptly masked by the strange, new, harsher one. “That is fortunate. It will more easily facilitate your removal from the facility.”

“What?” Mattie gasped. “Why? What’s happened?”

“Last night, we were raided by our oppressors. After months of showing kindness and turning the other cheek, we could take no more. We fought back and repelled them. Their presence in our camp will no longer be tolerated.”

It was like listening to an entirely different person. “What do you mean by fought back?” Mattie asked.

Max ignored her question. “They killed Christobel. She was lying there injured, defenceless, and they unplugged her from her life-sustaining battery power,” he hissed with a voice full of anger, frustration, and grief. “Murdered her for no other reason than because they _could_.”

Mattie stood up with the intention of giving Max a hug. “Oh, Max...I am so sorry--”

Max’s fierce look stopped both her movement and her words in their tracks. “It is for this reason that the both of you must leave. Tonight.”

Mattie goggled. “ _Tonight?_ That’s not possible! We don’t even know if Leo can stand, let alone walk!”

“Leo has received physical therapy from Anatole several times weekly for the past ten months. It should have kept his muscles from atrophying enough for him to walk.”

This time Mattie did approach Max, laying her hand against his chest. “What’s happened to you, Max? Why are you doing this? I’m your friend. You know that.”

“After yesterday, I can no longer afford to have human friends.”

“Well then, think of Leo! He’s your brother! How can you turn your back on him?”

“For his own safety, I can not acknowledge him as such. He must leave. There are several synths among us that would kill him on sight, such is their hatred for our oppressors. Now that he is fully human, sending him away is the only way I can protect him. Please understand.”

“But--”

“Mattie,” Leo interrupted, “it’s all right. Max is only doing what he feels is best for me.”

Mattie hung her head in defeat. It was clear that nothing she said was going to sway Max from his decision, and she didn’t have the heart to tell Leo that he might be wrong about his brother.

“Well, he’s going to need a coat, shoes.”

“I will ensure that Leo receives all that he requires. I will come for you both just after midnight. The time frame for a safe departure will be very short. You must be ready.”

With significant effort, Leo pushed himself to a seated position and hung his legs over the side of the gurney. “We’ll be ready,” he said with a nod.

“Thank you, Leo,” Max said, finally placing his hand on his brother’s shoulder in a sign of affection. “I must go, but I will see you tonight.”

 

~o~

 

“So, what was that, then?” Leo panted, his arm draped heavily across Mattie’s shoulder as they slowly walked the five paces back and forth between the bed and the door.

“What was what?”

“You, with Max.”

“What do you mean?”

“You startled when he came in. Since when are you afraid of Max?”

“It’s nothing.”

Leo eyed Mattie dubiously. “I always know it’s something when you tell me it’s nothing.”

Her mouth formed a thin line. “Ask me after we leave.”

“That bad?”

Mattie stared for a long time at the closed door. “Yeah," she admitted at last. "Bad enough.”

 


End file.
